Page 66 of The Fury She Holds
He nodded. “Reports of disappearances followed by sightings of powerful beings always precluded the attacks on the villages.”
“Theywerecollecting for the Rings then.” Carrick clenched his fist hard enough to crack his knuckles.
“Seems like it,” Rain affirmed. “The good news is that every single attack seems to indicate three mages, no more, no less.”
Faron frowned and narrowed his eyes. “That’s oddly specific. I wouldn’t trust that bit of information. Especially with it being so long ago.”
“I would have thought so too, but there’s hundreds of accounts in this book, the most recent being fifteen years ago.”
“What?!” Sybil’s attention snapped to her brother. “Was it—”
Rainier nodded, eliciting a swear from his sister.
Inaction had made Tal restless. “Well, if that’s the case, then we only have one left to worry about. Maybe weshouldgo after this mage and eliminate him.”
“You can’t be serious.” Faron stared, dumbfounded.
“I am absolutely serious. You and I have each killed one already. What’s one more?”
Carrick pushed off the wall. “What happened to keeping our heads down? Didn’t you say they’re too powerful for the five—six,” he added with a glance at Faron, “of us to handle on our own?”
It was no surprise that Rain didn’t agree with Tal’s sudden change of heart either. “We need to find out more. So, we have the history. That doesn’t teach us how to win against them. We don’t know the full extent of their power, or did you forget that you were nearly killed by a single spell from just one mage?” They repeated the argument from the night after Pochette’s failed betrayal all over again, except this time, Tal was the only one in favor of going after their enemy.
“And yet, we’ve eliminated two of them with daggers, no less. Even his royal highness over here can handle that.” Tal gestured to Faron who looked around at the group like he didn’t want to be brought into the conversation.
“We can continue following Badger and Gully. The mage is bound to appear at some point,” Egan piped up for the first time.
No one seemed to hear the teen. Carrick threw his arms up in frustration. “Tal, you said it yourself. We can’t do this alone. The twins’ entire village wasn’t enough to hold them back.”
Faron’s head jerked. “Theirentirevillage?” His attention shot to Sybil, who cleaned dirt from her boot with a knife, and Rain. “Where are you from?”
Tal sighed and sat in the corner while the twins recounted the timeline of attacks from the mages. To his credit, Faron was horrified at the extent of the devastation and lack of news in the king’s circles. When they compared the events in the docks, he concluded it was happening all over again in Meladair. “Tal, you’re right, we have to stop the remaining mage. But we can’t go in blind, and we can’t do it alone.”
Rainier must have been hoping for this ever since Faron walked into the common room. “Do you think you can get support from the king? You said he’s a friend, right?”
Faron nodded. “I’ll try to get an audience with him.” His eyebrow twitched. “Though, you’re aware he doesn’t have much to offer even if he agrees? If the villages in the southern kingdom were no match, I’m not sure how much resistance we can provide. Then again, we do have a Fury.” He smiled at Tal. Unfortunately for him, Tal only scowled back.
“Are you forgetting Sybil’s revelation in the palace? The torture chamber underneath? The summer home infested with mages? How can we trust the king after everything we know?”
“What revelation?” Faron eyed the seer.
“Well, we probably should have mentioned it first.” She peered sideways at her brother. “But my vision definitely has something to do with one of the rooms in the palace—off the Great Hall, big rectangular table, window on the north side that takes up most of the wall.”
Tal noticed Faron tense when Sybil described the room. “Do you know it?”
“No,” he shook his head slowly, scrunching his brow. “You think this vision has to do with the palace then?”
“I think it has to do with that room. We need to find out what it’s used for.”
Faron hesitated. “I can speak to James, but most of the rooms off the Great Hall are used for whatever they need to be.” He rubbed his brow in frustration. “I can’t say we’ll learn anything significant.”
“No.” Tal stood. She grew tired of conversations that went in circles. “We haven’t confirmed we can trust the king. Whatever you do, don’t let him know about any of this.” She gestured around the tunnel.
“I know I’ve said it before, but you can trust him. I’d bet my life on it.”
Silence hung heavily in the room while everyone waited for Tal to respond.
“The evidence is pretty incriminating.”
